ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Davos: A proposal is what I'm proposing.
我是要 提建議
我是要 提建議
聯婚就 是我的 計劃
我就是 在提建 議
我的確 有個提 議
聯婚就 是我的 提議
At the beginning of season 8 episode 1, the people of Winterfell are preparing for the oncoming battle with the Army of the Dead. Several of the Dragon Queen’s advisors are discussing the future of Westeros. Ser Davos and Tyrion comment on the perfect couple that Daenerys and John Snow make. Ser Davos gives a suggestion that is stated as a pun when he says, “A proposal is what I’m proposing.” The first instance of the word proposal is in fact a
“marriage proposal” and the second instance is simply a suggestion. Both prosubs translated the same latter meaning of “proposal”, but either missed the pun or decided it was too difficult to translate. Two of the fansubs adopted more or less the same translation method, with only ShinY and YYeTs translating the idea of “marriage proposal.” They translated the sentence respectively as, 「聯婚就是我的計劃」and「聯婚就是我的提議」. The fansub
translator/s of ShinY and YYeTs were unable to convey the pun but at least were able to convey the meaning. This is an example where being a fan of the show can trump professional training.
Ex. 2
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Euron: I've got a crew full of mutes.
我的船 員都是 啞巴
我有一 群沈默 的船員
我的船 員基本 都是啞 巴
我的手 下全是 啞巴
我船上 的人都 是啞巴
我的船 員都不 說話
In the first episode, when Euron goes below deck to speak with his captive sister, she asks him why he is even keeping her alive. He tells her that he won’t kill her for multiple reasons, but one of them is boredom at sea. His crew are all taciturn, which he phrases as,
“I’ve got a crew full of mutes.” YYeTs translated it as, 「我的船員都不說話」. This is the most vanilla translation and loses the feeling of Euron’s vulgarness. Visionary Sub translated it as, 「我船上的人都是啞巴」. This translation makes it sound like “the people on my boat are all mutes,” which is not accurate, because he is only including the crew that work his ship. Any other individuals who are on the ship who are not part of the crew would not be included in the group, but at least this fansub group had the sagacity to directly translate the word “mutes”. FIX translated it as, 「我的手下全是啞巴」. This is an approximate
translation, but 「手下」is a bit more general than the crew that is sailing on his ship. The DVD subs were translated as, 「我有一群沈默的船員」. This is also an approximate translation and conveys the gist of the ST; however, this is an instance where directly translating creates a more suitable speech pattern for the villain Euron. ShinY rendered it as,
「我的船員基本都是啞巴」. This is the second to best translation but the word 「基本」 is unnecessary and doesn’t exist in the ST. The TV subs were translated as, 「我的船員都是啞 巴」. This is the most accurate translation and most adequately conveys Euron’s character.
Ex. 3
In the first episode when Euron arrives in King's Landing and goes to see the Queen.
He reveals that some of the men had died on the ship. Apparently, Euron had played cards with the mercenaries and “someone” cheated, which obviously means Euron himself. He says, “They cheated at dice.” Both prosubs and YYeTs translated the sentence the same as,
「他們玩骰子作弊」, which is a reasonable, understandable translation. Most of the other fansubs also rendered the word “cheat” as 「作弊」. ShinY translated it as 「他們作弊了」
and Visionary Sub as ，「 他們搖骰子的時候作弊了」. The only difference being the verb
“play,” which was rendered as 「搖骰子」. FIX was the only one to express the cheating in a term that is used only in gambling, which was phrased as, 「他們玩骰子時出老千」.This translation is the most appealing as it is a more specific form of cheating than just 「作弊」.
Ex. 4
At the end of episode one, the men of the Night's Watch and scouts from Winterfell discover a scene of carnage at Last Hearth. Upon seeing the display of dead bodies in a twisted form of art, Beric says, “It's a message. From the Night King.”Both prosubs
translated the sentence as, 「這是個訊息/來自夜王」, which doesn’t convey the meaning of the Night King’s threat; “information” sounds too neutral. Visionary Sub translated it as,「這 是封恐嚇信／夜王留下的」, which is an accurate translation; however, the message left on the wall isn’t truly a letter. ShinY translated the sentence as,「這是一份口信」. This
translation fails due to improper word choice because the word 「口信」must be spoken but the message left behind is found art. I would suggest the word 「警告」as a better
translation because it avoids the issue of the form in which the threat is delivered.
Ex. 5
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Gendry: This is-this is death.
這次是 亡者
這次是 死亡
他們是 死人
這是死 亡
你面對 的是死 神
你面對 的是死 神
When Arya visits Gendry at his smithy, he tries to convince her to stay out of the fighting. He believes that Arya doesn’t realize this new enemy is more dangerous than any she has faced before. He says, “This is different. This is-this is death.” The TV subs translated the sentence relatively as, 「這次是亡者」. ShinY translated it as, 「他們是死 人」. This is the least satisfying of the translations as 「死人」means “dead people.” The
Army of the Dead, however, is just a representation of death. This translation failed because it made the danger as merely dead people. The DVD subs and FIX translated it as, 「這次是 死亡」and 「這是死亡」. This is a good translation as 「死亡」means “death.” Visionary Sub and YYeTs translated it as「你面對的是死神」. This is also a satisfying translation as it personifies the driving force behind the evil.
Ex. 6
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Sansa:
They're easily manipulate d.
他們很 容易操 控
他們很 容易操 控
他們很 容易被 控制
操控他 們很容 易
他們極 易受到 女人擺 佈
他們很 容易被 情感左 右
In the second episode, Queen Daenerys asks for a private meeting with Sansa to win her over. The queen knows that Sansa dislikes John renouncing his throne and wants to reassure her that she has the best intentions for Westeros. She wants to know why Sansa is so distrustful. Sansa responds that she is concerned that John is being used and says, ‘Men do stupid things for women. They're easily manipulated.” YYeTs translated the sentence as,「他 們很容易被情感左右」. This rendering is less than satisfying as phrasing it this way seems as if men are manipulated by their feelings. Both prosubs, ShinY and FIX translated the sentence respectively as, 「他們很容易操控」, 「他們很容易被控制」, and「操控他們很 容易」. Visionary Sub took a unique approach and phrased the sentence as,「他們極易受到 女人擺佈」. This rendering is the most satisfying and even verges on the poetic. It breaks
away from the formulaic way of translating “manipulate” as 「操控」or 「控制」， which is a refreshing change.
Ex. 7
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Sam: Just
animals. 只是禽
獸
只是禽 獸
只能淪 為禽獸
而只是 動物
只是動 物而已
只是動 物而已
Sam asks Bran what the Night King wants. Sam tells him that he wants an eternal night and removing Bran, who is the memory of the Westeros, is the surest way to do it. Sam responds by saying that the nature of death is forgetting and, “If we forget where we've been and what we've done, we're not men anymore. Just animals.” The word “animal” means different things in different contexts. It can mean “organism,”” beast,” or even “monster.” In this context, it is used in the negative sense of “beast.” Therefore, translating it as 「動物」is not a good match of diction. Both prosubs and ShinY translated the sentence respectively as,
「只是禽獸」and「只能淪為禽獸」. The latter translation adds a nice touch by collocating the word 「淪為」 with 「禽獸」. Back translating the sentence gives us, “We would be reduced to animals.” FIX translated it as「而只是動物」，and Visionary Sub and YYeTs translated the sentence as,「只是動物而已」. The three fansub versions failed when it came to diction as 「動物」doesn’t emphasize the meaning of “beast” that the ST conveys.
Ex. 8
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Tormund:
They call you
“King Killer”
人們叫 你“弒 君者”
人們叫 你“弒 君者”
他們叫你
“弒君 者”
他們叫你
“弒君者
“
他們都叫 你“殺君 者”
他們叫你
“殺君 者”
In the second episode when Tyrion, Jamie, Brienne, and many others are huddling around the fire on the night before the big battle, Tormund enters the room and sees Jamie for the first time. He has grown fond of Brienne and is jealous to see that Jamie and Brienne have a connection. Before he introduces himself as Giantsbane, he tells Jamie, “They call you
‘King Killer.’” This comment is quite funny as Jamie’s sobriquet is actually “King Slayer.”
What Tormund hopes would show his confidence, ends up making him look like a country bumpkin. Both prosubs, ShinY, and FIX missed the humor in Tormund’s mistake and translated “King Killer” the same way they translated “King Slayer”, which is 「弒君者」.
Visionary Sub and YYeTs both caught the humor and cleverly translated “King Killer” as
「殺君者」， which isn’t even a legitimate Chinese word, making it a perfect match for Tormund’s mistake. Visionary Sub provided glossing, which naturally took up more screen space, however, in this case, it was worth it as the audience might miss the joke. Visionary Sub translated it as, “這裡是他誤聽了實則為“弒君者/他們都叫你“殺君者”. The fansubs cleverly split up the two sentences and put the first sentence at the top of the screen and the second at the bottom, making it more obvious.
Ex. 9
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Bran: It's a
As the people in Winterfell turn inside to escape the bitter cold, Tyrion and Bran find themselves in the same room. Tyrion is curious how Bran has become the Three-Eyed-Raven and asks him to retell his journey. Bran warns Tyrion that it is a long story, to which Tyrion responds, “If only we were trapped in a castle, in the middle of winter, with nowhere to go.”
This statement clearly cannot be taken at face value as they are in fact trapped in a castle and it is the middle of winter. Tyrion’s statement is a classic case of sarcasm, which is a very tricky feeling to convey in Chinese. All prosubs and fansubs decided to forego the sarcasm and translate a straightforward statement: both prosubs went with, 「反正我們受困城堡/又 正值冬天，哪兒都不能去」; ShinY as, 「但我們被困在凜冬的城堡裡/沒有別的去處」;
FIX as, [我們在這隆冬時節 被困在城堡之中/無處可去 正好聽你的漫長故事]; Visionary Sub as,「我們在寒冬中受困於城堡 哪也去不了/聽聽漫長的故事有何不可」; and YYeTs as,「反正我們被困在城堡裡/正值寒冬 無處可去」. Each translation conveys the sentence in a matter-of-fact tone, which is a bit disappointing. I propose that the sarcasm be retained and presented as, 「太可惜我們沒有被困在城堡裡」. Fans of the show will know the sentence is sarcastic as it goes against the context of their current situation; furthermore, the word 「太可惜」reveals the sarcasm by being an over the top expression.
Ex. 10
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Light the
The one most effective way of facing the dead is with fire. Before the battle with the army of the dead begins, the people of Winterfell have dug trenches around the castle and placed kindling inside them. As the swarm of dead begin their assault on the castle, Men begin shouting “Light the Trench!” Both Prosubs, Fix, and Visionary Sub translated the sentence as, 「點燃壕溝」. ShinY as, [ 點燃戰壕], which is possibly a bit more specific as these trenches are dug for the purpose of warfare. YYeTs chose an interesting translation, 「點燃鹿砦」.
The word 「鹿砦」is not technically a trench but it looks very much like the things that are burnt in the trenches. It might be the best translation as it provides the best imagery; however, not many people have ever seen it or know what it is, and therefore goes against a subtitling principle of being readily understandable.
Ex. 11
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Davos: No
In the fourth episode, Ser Davos comments on the Lord of Light’s disappearance. He says the Lord of Light has left them with, “No signs, no blessings.” Both prosubs and YYeTs translated the sentence respectively as, 「沒有跡象，沒有祝福」and 「什麼神蹟賜福沒
有」. The prosub translations are good as they don’t signify what kind of signs the Lord of Light has left. YYeTs produced the best version as 「神蹟」is specifically a sign that a god would leave behind. ShinY, FIX and Visionary Sub translated the sentence as 「沒有預兆/
沒有祝福」. This translation method is subpar as the “signs” that Davos is talking about are not necessarily prophetic signs; they could simply be signs of significance. Just like people seeing the face of Jesus in a burnt tortilla doesn’t mean that something significant is going to happen. It is merely a mark that shows supernatural existence.
Ex. 12
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Tyrion: We
In the fourth episode after Ser Davos has complained about the Lord of Light, Tyrion tells Ser Davos, “We may have defeated them, but we still have us to contend with.” Tyrion’s comment is clearly a reference to defeating the dead but still facing the threat of the living;
however, he says it in a very indirect way. Both prosubs, Visionary Sub, and YYeTs all rendered Trion’s statement respectively as, 「我們雖然打敗了亡者/卻也還有生者要對 付」，「我們或許擊敗了亡者， 但我們依舊得面對生者之威脅」 ，and 「我們或許打 敗了死人，但還得對付活人呢」. These translations made Tyrion’s statement more explicit and satisfy the subtitler’s responsibility to make subtitles easily understandable. ShinY and FIX both had a different strategy and translated the sentence respectively as, 「我們或許打
敗了他們／但我們還有要對付的人」and 「我們也許打敗了“他們”/但還要考慮“我們”
的問題」. These translations are more faithful to the ST, but the former translation runs the risk of being very confusing. The latter translation, however, placed quotes around the words
“us” and “them,” which draws attention to the two words and gives the audience a better chance of catching Tyrion’s meaning. With quotation marks, it is the best translation, but without them, it is the worst. This is an example where a slight change in translation strategy makes or breaks the translation.
Ex. 13
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Bran: I don't really want anymore.
我其實 什麼都 不想要
我其實 什麼都 不想要
我確實 不想當
我真的不 再想要了
我其實 是無欲 無求了
我其實 是無欲 無求了
In the fourth episode, Tyrion approaches Bran and comments on the cleverness of his new wheelchair design. He also mentions how Bran will become the new lord of
Winterfell as he is Ned Stark’s last male heir. Bran responds that he doesn’t want it and later says, “I don’t really want anymore.” Bran’s comment reflects his current state as the Three-Eyed-Raven. He means that the feeling of “want” is no longer part of his gamut of emotions.
ShinY translated it as 「我確實不想當」, which completely misses Bran’s meaning. If we
ShinY translated it as 「我確實不想當」, which completely misses Bran’s meaning. If we